You Are What You App

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

As we begin 2013, I'd like to share a recent infograph charting our adoption across the globe and past the 100,000 user mark - we are truly grateful for the adoption, the praise and the loyalty of our users. Thank you and we are looking forward to an even brighter New Year.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

At TheMobileYogi, we've developed a family of yoga apps for individuals, yoga studios, and other wellness-centered organizations. By far our most popular app is Yoga-pedia - available on iOS, Windows Phone, and in two Android flavors; a Google Play version and an Amazon version. In all cases, Yoga-pedia is essentially the same, but in the case of the Google Play and the Amazon versions, they are identical.

So, given the fact that the apps look, behave and perform identically, one would expect the usage patterns to be roughly equivalent as well - but, it turns out, this is not even close to accurate. The marketplaces matter - like an exclusive restaurant versus a roadside BBQ joint - the marketplaces themselves attract different kinds of users - and those users exhibit very different types of behaviors.

Using our analytics from PreEmptive Solutions, we have found that our typical Amazon user spends 7.8 times more time in Yoga-pedia than does his/her Google counterpart. …and because of that
(even though we have fewer Amazon users) the Amazon marketplace delivers
thousands of hours more “face time” – and for any app that relies on user loyalty – this is critical distinction (and one that
is often obscured by simply looking at app session counts, downloads, and unique
users).

Check out the following pictograph that looks at the past few months of usage across the two marketplaces… if you're going to work to recruit a new user - an Amazon user is a much more valuable asset (at least for Yoga-pedia).

Lessons learned

At TheMobileYogi, we understand that - as with yoga - it's not just what you do, it's how and why you do what you do. This is why we have spent so much time on "app introspection" - using analytics like in the example above - to develop a deep understanding of how to best engage and motivate our users and deliver value to our studio and business clients.

...and this is how we came to recognize the importance of being prepared to deliver our clients' yoga apps across all relevant marketplaces; iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, and even Windows Phone and the new Windows 8 app marketplace (and we can work with you to organize the best strategy for your needs). It's also why we've placed so much emphasis on integrating premium content into the apps as well. Cookie cutters are great for cutting cookies, but not for connecting your business to your community. - Namaste

Thursday, October 25, 2012

We
at TheMobileYogi have always been passionate about the importance of using
premium content to distinguish mobile apps. While mobile analytics have
established the positive impact that our apps can have on customer loyalty (and client revenue), it's been a challenge to objectively measure the role that our content plays. Are our apps
truly more appealing to users when compared to other mobile apps that focus
solely on basic tasks like registrations, calendars and coupons?

Thanks
to the analytics gurus at AppMonsta, we now have empirical data comparing our
approach to the more traditional “white label” development model that generates
mobile apps by re-skinning registration, class browsing and other common tasks
– but little more.

AppMonsta
are leaders in (among other things) “sentiment analysis” across iOS and Android marketplaces.
Sentiment analysis includes advanced natural language processing and
computational linguistics (interpretation of user comments) to extract subjective information (sentiment and opinions) from app
user comments across various mobile marketplaces.

Based on AppMonsta's objective analysis, we have been able to produce the following table that compares apps published by TheMobileYogi with one of
the leading white label mobile app development shops that also focuses on yoga and other
wellness-centered businesses (referred to here as "White Label, Co" for the rest
of the post). In point of fact, White Label, Co is over 5X larger than
TheMobileYogi with a long history of app development and design - we have chosen a leader in this space - not a loser. The key metrics shown below are used to:

Measure
total satisfaction (Passionate Index)

Predict
virality / word-of-mouth sharing
(Exuberance Index)

Discover
standout technical teams (Crash Index)

Identify
'stickiness' and retention (Addiction Index)

What we see is a dramatic and material distinction between our content-driven apps when compared to simple student access apps.

TheMobileYogi

White
Label, Co

TheMobileYogi
Advantage

Definition

Avg
ratings for all titles

4.92

3.18

+55%

Average of
all numeric ratings.

Avg
passionate users

92%

41%

+124%

% of 5 star
reviews out of total reviews.

Avg
exuberance index

67

52

+29%

Based on the %
of reviewers that express a palpable excitement for the app that goes beyond
5 stars.

Avg
crash index

0

12

infinity

Based on the
percentage of reviewers that discuss technical issues and crashing.

Avg
addiction index

7

1

+600%

Based on the
percentage of reviewers that reveal some level of addiction to the app.

It’s
not even close. The data is unambiguous – TheMobileYogi produces apps that
users love – and that translates into user loyalty and increased revenue for our clients. Content is king – and TheMobileYogi
delivers that value to those that matter most – your markets. To learn more, please visit www.themobileyogi.com

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Do Apps have karma? Of course not – they’re inanimate (this
is not a post on artificial intelligence – or a Blade Runner review). However –
I think it’s worth taking some time to consider how the apps we use do more
than just copy, print and “like” at our command. Apps do what technology always
does best; they accelerate and amplify – for better and for worse.

Facebook, Twitter, email, the presentations and inter-office
memos that you write, how you interact and manage (or perhaps monitor) your
clients, employees and partners through your online systems – not only reveal a
whole lot about you – these apps amplify your actions and magnify your impact –
and, by extension, your karma.

In short, the apps you use may not have their own karma, but
how you use them can definitely impact yours.

Some people will tell you that technology changes everything
– and those people are dead wrong – everything you know, you need to remember –
and that has never been more true than when we’re talking about our humanity.

What do your personal apps – and your workplace apps – say
about you? Is your online life in balance with your real-world life? Are you
meaner online? Rude? Do you show the same consideration and patience online as
you do in real time? Even if you act
anonymously (although I would challenge if that’s ever possible these days) –
you will be changed by the actions you take and the online life you lead.

Some people will tell you that you can build a website or push out a mobile app whose only purpose is
to make it easier for customers to part with their money going to classes or
buying products or paying for services – and that for some reason, the laws of
the universe will be suspended because it’s
online - and that users won’t see this as grasping or even greedy.

We know that nothing could be further from the truth – the
truth is still the truth; and karma is still karma.

TheMobileYogi delivers content-rich apps that users love and embrace (and
will, of course, use). Our apps uniquely combine high-value content and
instruction with our clients’ brand and business – And our unique analytics prove what we all intuitively
know – that when you lead by giving, you’ll be rewarded in kind – and for
our clients, that translates into increased loyalty, attendance and a more
engaged community.

This is my second blog – and, like my first,
Apps Are People Too, it will be a home for thoughts and ramblings on the
interplay between people and apps. You Are What You App (like you are what you eat) is centered less on
technical topics and more on cognitive, ethical and (yes) spiritual symmetries
– and, for those that are interested in the TheMobileYogi, you’ll find
references, motivations and musings on our activities here as well.

Blog Archive

About Me

Grew-up in Westbeth, the world's largest artist community. (www.westbeth.org) I rebelled and went into the world of commercial software where I have been for over 30 years. I am currently EVP & Chief Strategy Officer at PreEmptive Solutions. (www.preemptive.com)